Calling Katusha consistent over the four days of fleet racing in the RC44 Cascais Cup would certainly be an understatement. With two victories in 11 races and a ninth being their worst score, the Russian team deservedly took victory this week in Portugal. Even under pressure, after being early over the line in today’s first race, they kept their cool and weaved their way through the fleet.

Second place overall went to Team Aqua, not a surprise given Chris Bake’s track record in the RC44 class. However, the team that clearly showed the biggest progress, by far, was Synergy. The Russians finished third overall in Cascais, the first ever podium place in a regatta since they joined the RC44 class two years ago.

Race 1
Katusha and Team Aqua went into the event’s last day holding, respectively, first and second position in the overall score table. The Russians standing at the top with 29 points while Chris Bake’s boat was 14 points behind at 43 and with two scheduled races the overall leadership was wide open. All it could take was two mediocre races by Katusha and Chris Bake would be back in the hunt.

When the first race started after a two-hour delay, it initially seemed that the first of these major snafus had just taken place. Katusha, together with Nika, AFX Capital and No Way Back were early over the line and rounded the first weather mark 13th. However, a good second beat, gave them the opportunity to move four places to 9th while Chris Bake’s Team Aqua finished sixth, paying the price of a left call in the first beat.

The race’s clear winners were RUS7. The Russian boat had a very good start, picked the right side in the first beat and led until the finish, rounding each mark in the lead. It was the Russian team’s first victory in the event but also in the 2012 season

Start of the day's first race. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Start of the day's first race. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

AFX Capital were early over the line but didn't come back to cross again and got an OCS. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

The Russians are leading. RUS7 and Synergy round the first top mark in first and second place. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

RUS7 round the first top mark in first place and will never look back. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Katusha round the first weather mark in 13th place. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

RUS7 lead the fleet at the bottom gate. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Chris Bake's Team Aqua round the leeward gate in the middle of the pack, seriously reducing their chances for overall leadership. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

RUS7 lead the fleet at the second weather mark. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Katusha had climbed to 9th place at the second weather mark. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

The RC44 fleet sailing in the last run of the race. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

The RC44 fleet sailing in the last run of the race. Cascais, 1 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

[Source: RC44 Class] In contrast to yesterday’s foam up, the penultimate day of racing at the Cascais RC44 Cup was spent wishing for wind.

The fleet were held ashore until 13:00 BST in the hope the sea breeze would kick before motoring three miles west of Cascais, where the sea-breeze is more prevalent, racing eventually got underway at 15:30 in a light 7 knots breeze.

Event leader Katusha (RUS) showed the fleet the way in the first race, starting at the committee boat tacking immediately towards the shoreline, obviously wanting the right hand side of the track. Peninsula Petroleum (GBR) and Team Aqua (GBR) had the same plan and the trio rounded the windward mark ahead of the fleet. The top three places didn’t change, Katusha taking the win, Peninsula Petroleum second and then Team Aqua. The Russian flagged team was extending their overall lead on the fleet.

Race two started with a general recall, Race Officer Peter Reggio was quick to hoist the black flag with new boys Aegir (GBR) and RUS 7 being called over and disqualified from the race. Katusha and Peninsula Petroleum headed right off the start line again, but this time it was Team Aqua that popped out of the middle of the pack to lead at the windward mark. Peninsula Petroleum was next to round. As much as the team from Gibraltar pushed, but they couldn’t catch Team Aqua who sailed the perfect race, their second race-win of the event.

Steve Howe and Russell Coutts on Katusha followed their race win with a fourth place giving them a 13 point cushion going into the final day of racing. Team Aqua stays in second overall, reducing the margin by one-point and are clearly not giving up on the event win just yet. “Katusha have got a pretty healthy lead over us at the moment but everything is possible and we will defiantly try to catch them tomorrow.” Chris Bake, owner/driver, Team Aqua.

Peninsula Petroleum put in another incredibly consistent set of results after their two wins yesterday this time in very different conditions, they move-up into third overall on equal points with Igor Lah/Michele Ivaldi and the Slovenian CEEREF team. “I’m very proud of the guys, we’ve sailed unbelievably again today. To come out today and back up yesterday’s good day was important. I’m very happy with boat speed and tactics so hopefully we can keep it going for one more day,” Peninsula Petroleum owner John Bassadone (GBR).

RC44 Cascais Cup – Day 3

[Source: RC44 Class] The forecasters had said the wind would ease, but instead torrential rain bought stronger winds which tested all 15 boats and teams competing at the Cascais RC44 Cup 2012. Sailing with their big masthead spinnakers in the first race of the day the wind increased to 28 knots, by the final run a number of the team’s fell foul to some spectacular broaches.

One team that relished the conditions was Peninsula Petroleum (GBR). They chose their favourite spot at the leeward end of the start-line in each race and went on to win the first two races before posting a solid fifth in the third, moving John Bassadone, Vasco Vascotto (ITA) and the Gibraltar based team up to fifth overall. Owner and the man at the helm, John Bassadone, was pretty pleased with their day on the water. “It was pretty scary today, actually very very exciting! We had unbelievable results and all sailed really well managing to control the boat, the crew did amazingly.”

Katusha (RUS) led the opening race of the day upto the final run before losing their spinnaker tack-line, which led to a dramatic spinnaker blow-out. With the halyard wrapped around the mainsail they couldn’t hoist their second kite and had to two-sail to the finish. “We were lucky to lose only three points on that run,” was guest helmsman Steve Howe’s synopsis after racing. The rest of the day proved less eventful, a solid second and third place followed leaving Katusha at the top of the overnight leaderboard, with a 14-point lead.

Team Aqua slotted in two sixth and a fifth to move up into second place overall whilst Artemis Racing (SWE) recovered from an average start to win the final race of the day. The team suffered two broaches right before the finish line of race one. The first was helped by a luff from Katusha, which saw the Swedes penalised for not keeping clear and incur a penalty turn. The second came on the last gybe and resulted in the spinnaker wrapping around the keel.

Morgan Larson (USA) tactician on Artemis Racing explained the conditions on the race course. “It was really tough out there today obviously windy and rainy but good action and the boats were perfect. The wind was top end for the boats but good, it would have been fairly under control if you had been sailing around on your own but when you start racing, sailing higher upwind and faster downwind with boats around you it gets pretty wild, with waves coming over the bow and into the boats, they get heavier and then you start breaking sails which is what you saw out there today.”

[Source: RC44 Class] A full on day of racing in every sense saw four different winners from four races and a very compact fleet competing for every inch around the race course at the Cascais RC44 Cup 2012.

The steady easterly breeze averaged 15 knots throughout the day and produced some very close one-design racing. With 15 boats now competing on the RC44 Tour, all with very even boat speed, mark rounding’s have become very congested. Picking the port lay-line can be a risky manoeuvre with the prospect of a 180 metre duck if you get it wrong. One who fell foul of this today was Patrick de Barros (POR) and Mathieu Richard (FRA) on Team Cascais. The local team found themselves having to duck the entire fleet at the first windward mark of race three after finding no space to squeeze into.

Igor Lah and the team of CEEREF (SLO) had the most consistent day, their worst result was a sixth, their best a win in the fourth and final race of the day. The team managed to stay incident free but it wasn’t all as serene as it looked as owner owner Igor Lah explained. “Today was an excellent day, the conditions were fairly stable and anything could have happened at any moment. In one race we came from almost last up to second or third place. Every moment mattered today so you had to be very careful with how you performed, but Michele (Ivaldi) was calling very good tactics and the crew members were excellent, it really paid off.”

Katusha (RUS) helmed this week by Steve Howe (USA) with Russell Coutts (NZL) calling the shots finished the day one point off the lead with a 3,7,1,4 score-line. Steve Howe’s reaction to the racing: “Thank god for comebacks! Today’s racing was so close.”

Chris Bake and Cameron Appleton had an up and down day by their own high standards. They started with an eighth and bounced straight back to win the next. Despite having their wind instruments ripped off the top of their mast by Team Cascais in race three, they slotted in a third followed by a ninth leaving Team Aqua (GBR) third overall, seven points off the lead.

Synergy Russian Sailing Team started where they left off yesterday winning the opening race of the day, however a port starboard incident with AFX Capital (ITA) saw the team lose their crash box. Valentin Zavadnikov with Ed Baird calling the shots finished the day in fourth overall – 10 points off the leader.

New to the fleet is Brian Benjamin (GBR) and his Aegir team who are more used to Maxi boats, after two days racing in the RC44 he gave his thoughts on the new venture. “Today was fantastic, we had an easier run of it today compared to yesterday, we got beat up a bit in the match racing! We had some really good races; the conditions were great it wasn’t quite as windy as yesterday. Compared to the Maxi’s I’m pretty surprised by how close the boats are. It’s not quite like the Maxi races, it’s a lot more aggressive and there are a lot more boats, probably a lot more fun as well.”

RC44 Cascais Cup – Day 2

We have to be thankful the cold war is over so that we can have teams such as Synergy that offer us a day of spectacular racing like the one we just had in Cascais. The RC44 Cascais Cup started on Wednesday and the 15-strong fleet took it to the waters off the Cascais marina for the match racing part of the event.

Conditions were once again excellent, with plenty of sunshine, fairly flat seas and most, importantly, a good breeze between 15 and 20 knots that blew in the Portuguese city from early in the morning. These conditions gave also PRO Peter Reggio the chance to easily complete the scheduled seven flights early in the afternoon.

After seven flights and 35 matches, at the end of the day there was one clear and irrefutable leader. Synergy, the Russian yacht with America’s Cup winner Ed Baird at the helm, seemed to be no problem dominating the rest of the fleet. The Russian-American coalition prevailed in all the starts, hitting the starting line on pace and ahead of their opponents, made the right tactical calls, sailed well and even threw a couple of penalties. Their domination was so clear that, as is easily seen in all the photos, Synergy were ahead

Right behind Synergy stands another Russian team, Nika, tied with Team Cascais, both with five wins and two losses.

Flight 1

First flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

First flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

First flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

First flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

First flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Flight 2

Second flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Second flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Second flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Second flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Second flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Second flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Flight 3

Third flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Third flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Third flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Flight 4

Fourth flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Fourth flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Fourth flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Flight 5

Fifth flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Fifth flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Fifth flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Fifth flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Flight 6

Sixth flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info

Sixth flight of the match racing part of the RC44 Cascais Cup. Cascais, 28 March 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSai.info